Jordanians and Israelis: A History in Maps

Published: August 2, 1988

1918: British forces under Gen. Sir Edmund Allenby defeat the Turks in a battle south of the West Bank city of Nablus, ending Ottoman control over Palestine. 1923: The League of Nations gives Britain a mandate over Palestine, an area that includes the East Bank of the Jordan River. Palestinian leaders protest the decision and demand independence. Later that year, Britain effectively partitions Palestine, handing over the East Bank - the Transjordan - to Emir Abdullah and retaining rule, under the mandate, in the rest of Palestine, including the West Bank. 1946: The East Bank becomes the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. 1947: The United Nations, under international pressure to fulfill aspirations for a Jewish homeland, votes to end the British mandate and partitions Palestine into Jewish and Arab zones. Immediately after the decision, armed hostilities break out between Jews and Arabs. Jewish soldiers establish themselves in most areas accorded them in the partition plan. 1948: After Israel declares independence in May, Arab armies cross the border and attack the Israeli forces. The Arab Legion wins control over most lands accorded to the Arabs in the United Nations partition plan. At the same time, the Israelis gained control over lands beyond the United Nations mandate. 1950: Jordan annexes the West Bank. 1967: The Israeli Army captures Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in the June war. It also seizes the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights, where it has long been strategically vulnerable, from Syria. 1974: Arab leaders attending a summit meeting in Rabat, Morocco, decide that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, formally divesting Jordan of this role. 1987: In December, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip begin an uprising against the Israeli occupation. 1988: King Hussein of Jordan cancels a $1.3 billion development plan for the West Bank, dissolves the house of Parliament in which the occupied lands are represented, and announces that Jordan will cut legal and administrative ties with the West Bank in favor of the P.L.O. Source: The Associated Press